We have two beautiful cats (a mother and a daughter) which we got at the humane society years ago. We chose to keep them as indoor cats. When people visit our house they immediately comment on how beautiful "Mama Kitty" and "Baby Kitty" are.

Mama is half gray and half white with a phantom of the opera-like mask, while Baby is white with spots and triangles of black/brown markings.

I am wondering if they are Turkish Angora or not. Any insight is appreciated. (One more thing - they are both polydactl - Mama on 3 paws and Baby on all four paws!!).

Baby Kitty in the Sunroom lounger - photo by Annmarie

Annmarie

Hi Annmarie.... First, I agree with what your visitors say, they are beautiful.

Questions along the lines of "what breed is my cat?" usually result in similar answers because a cat can only formally be a breed if it is purebred and for a cat to be purebred there really has to be proof or evidence and the only form of evidence is paperwork that proves pedigree i.e. a chart showing the parentage of the cat going back several generations from the original cats that were themselves certified as purebred. Cat associations demand these and I presume keep a database of registered cats.

On that basis "Mama Kitty" and "Baby Kitty" are probably not a certain cat breed but there may be paperwork somewhere or a breeder bred cats that were not to type (not good enough in appearance to register them at a cat association) and sold them or gave them away without registering them. So they could be a cat breed but we don't know for sure what breed.

It is hard, I think, to make judgments about cat breeds solely from appearance because some cats might be a cat breed but as I said not a perfect example of that breed. This muddies up the assessment.

OK, all that out of the way...Baby Kitty has Van markings, the inverted "V" on the forehead and the dark tail. To me Baby Kitty has indications of Turkish Van genes but is probably a mix. Mama Kitty looks like a medium hair length bicolor random bred cat but may carry some "Turkish genes" for want of a better description!

The bottom line is this. Both are beautiful. Both are loved and both are probably (or possibly) random bred cats or half breed cats and without evidence of pedigree even if they were purebred Turkish Angoras they would have to be described as "Turkish Angora look-a-likes".

Someone else, I am sure, can answer the question better than me. But thanks a lot for sharing and showing.

Comments for Help me identify if my cats are Turkish Angora or not

i have read all comments that were before me and agree with most.. yes Polydactyl is a pretty common trait in maine coon but can happen with any breed of cat or dog.. but on the subject of what your kitties are i believe that they defiantly have turkish angora in them for the fact they both have the longer fur along their jowls with is a turkish angora trait not a turkish vans.. saying that, they are not full breed angoras because of their colors they are mixed with something else.. mine is colored the same way with the caramel browns and black blobs along the beautiful white coat, and mine had babies with a russian blue boy.. the kittens were adorable all short hair but have longer cheek fur and a large muscular body from the russian blue, but the stance of the turkish angora [ballerina like] hope this helped a bite

Aug 07, 2010

Angora or Vanby: Anonymous

I recently brought in a stray that looks exactly like your cats. Despite countless hours of research, I still thought my stray a turkish angora mix. Turkish van's also look similar, but I'd say turkish angora mix is what both of our cats are.

Aug 07, 2010

Angora or Vanby: Anonymous

I recently brought in a stray that looks exactly like your cats. Despite countless hours of research, I still thought my stray a turkish angora mix. Turkish van's also look similar, but I'd say turkish angora mix is what both of our cats are.

May 10, 2010

Catsby: Anonymous

I had a cat, Niles, for ten years that looked exactly like yours. When I say exactly, I mean exactly. I got him from a shelter as well. My vet thought that he was an Angora mix. When I look at pics of Turkish Angoras online, I see a lot of the same features that Niles had except he had some brown and black mixed into his beautiful white coat.

I had to put him to sleep about a year ago. He had always been healthy, but suddenly developed heart disease. I miss him everyday (as demanding as he was).

Mar 01, 2010

Breed IDby: Lisa James

Hi Anne Marie,

Your girls are indeed beautiful, but coming from a shelter, without papers it is impossible to tell what they are. That said, they aren't built anything like a TA, nor do they have any of the characteristics. Polydactylism isn't present in the TA gene pool, but is WAS a latent characteristic in the Maine Coon gene pool, & even though breeders select against this trait now because it can be ultimately harmful to the cat, sometimes it does pop up in pedigreed Maine Coons. They are beautiful bicolor domestic long hairs, & there is NOTHING wrong with that. I have a domestic long hair girl that I got as a 2 week old orphan, & bottle raised. Keegan is the love of my life, even if she doesn't own a pedigree 🙂

Mar 01, 2010

Polidactyl points towards MCby: Finn Frode, Denmark

Hi Annmarie. They are beautiful cats, and as Michael says, without papers they both must be labeled semi-longhair mixed breeds. That however doesn't make them any lesser cats - on the contrary, I'm sure many here will say...

The Van pattern alone doesn't make Baby Kitty a Turkish Van - besides I reckon her father lives somewhere in your neighbourhood and you would probably have noticed any special looking Toms around? He may actually be a shorthair himself, because as Mama is semi-longhair, it's enough for the father to be carrying the semilong-hair gene to have kittens like Baby.

It's hard to determine what kind of semi-longhair is in Mama's mix, but one thing that strikes me is that you say both are polydactyl (i.e. having more that the normal number of toes). That characteristic is mainly seen in Maine Coons - actually many people see polydactyl MC's as a variety of the breed, whereas it is very rare in other breeds. That to me indicates some Maine Coon in the mix of your cats.

But whatever it is, you have a couple of beautiful and special cats. 😉